The Express Tribune Editorial 15 March 2021

A new silk road

Since its inception, Pakistan’s unique geographical positioning vested in it a strategic potential to offer its land-locked neighbours beyond its northern borders, access to warm waters in it south and hence to the international marine superhighway. For a majority of its existence, however, the country only inched towards developing the infrastructure necessary for such a major undertaking. But over the past decade, Islamabad has moved to not only fill the infrastructure gaps within its boundaries but also strengthen its ties with preferred northern partners and finally realise its potential.

Recently, Pakistan assured Uzbekistan access to its ports during a recent visit to Islamabad by the country’s foreign minister. PM Imran Khan told the visiting dignitary that he envisions Pakistan as a gateway to landlocked Central Asia. This vision espouses the essence of the recent accord signed between Islamabad, Kabul and Tashkent to develop a railway line, apart from another project whereby a road link will be built via China while bypassing Afghanistan. A direct air link has also been proposed.

Centuries before Pakistan’s creation, this land served as a major conduit for the great East-West trade over the fabled Silk Route. The allure of warm waters off the Pakistani coast triggered the Afghan conflict that essentially slammed the brakes on Pakistan’s push towards Central Asia. However, thanks to China, work on building multiple routes connecting to Central Asia and building a new Silk Road is underway — the essential target of CPEC.

The development of these routes is the manifestation of the game-changer potential of CPEC. Pakistan has also strategically leveraged religious brotherhood in the Central Asian region to develop bilateral relations. However, Islamabad would need to be careful to avoid anger from developing in Afghanistan — which always saw itself as a key piece to solving Pakistan’s Central Asian puzzle. If managed properly, this new Silk Road will prove to be a new future for the country. Fail, and you push the country back another 50 years.

Sanjrani again, but …

The government has avenged the shock defeat of March 3 with stunning victories in the Senate yesterday. Both the candidates nominated by the government – Sadiq Sanjrani for chairman and Mirza Mohammed Afridi for deputy chairman – returned successful against their PDM rivals, Yousaf Raza Gillani and Abdul Ghafoor Haideri. Sanjrani received one vote more than the known numerical strength of his supporters and Afridi bagged seven more – something that shows that secret ballot once again proved instrumental in the results.

Also instrumental in one of the two contests – Sanjrani versus Gillani – was the number of votes that stood rejected. Incidentally, seven of the total of eight rejected votes belonged to Gillani. Presiding officer Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, a seasoned politician, ruled them rejected as the stamp in each case was affixed on the name of the candidate rather than the clean space provided ahead. PDM leaders refused to accept the ruling and announced moving every forum in their bid to get the ruling reversed and the result withdrawn. So while Sanjrani has been declared Senate chairman for now, he is faced with a serious legal challenge.

On the rejected votes, however, there may be more than meets the eye. Should we read more into why all the rejected votes belonged to Gillani only? Well, there is a fair bit of margin to raise suspicion in the context. Affixing the stamp on the candidate’s name rather than the space ahead may have been a deliberate attempt to have the votes rejected. Besides, the 54 votes secured by Afridi – seven more than those of the government and its allies and three more than the opposition’s total known support – speaks of the government’s inroads into the opposition camp, in case of the Upper House.

The March 3 shock had clearly shaken the confidence of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the morale of his team. The Senate triumph of March 12 must have helped the government camp regain its poise to a good extent. But this breathing space will fade fast, and the government needs to understand that performance is the only true confidence booster. The challenges the government faces are mounting — the Senate spy camera allegations are the latest addition.